I’ve been meaning to post my recipe for braised spicy pork ribs (maeun dweji galbijjim, 매운 돼지갈비찜) for a while. It’s finally ready! I find myself making Korean braised dishes mostly in the slow cooker these days. What can I say – it’s so much easier! You throw the ingredients in the slow cooker and forget about it until the meat is fork tender and ready to be served.
Maeun galbijjim (spicy braised ribs) is a popular braised dish in Korea. You can use beef short ribs, but it’s more commonly made with pork ribs. I personally think the red spicy seasoning works better with pork ribs. And pork is much cheaper. I like to use baby back ribs from Costco. They are tender and very meaty.
This recipe is spicy, but you can certainly make it spicier by adding more gochugaru, some dried whole red chili peppers, or fresh chili peppers. On the other hand, if you want to make a mild version of the braised pork ribs, you can use my slow cooker galbijjim recipe for beef short ribs and adjust the time for pork ribs as necessary. I’d also suggest adding more ginger because pork tastes great with lots of ginger.
You can sear the ribs to add that rich browned meat flavor and remove some fat, but I skipped that process in this recipe. For those of you who are wondering how to make this dish on a stove top, I will post the stove top method soon. You may also like my BBQ pork ribs.
Slow Cooker Spicy Pork Ribs (Maeun Dwaeji Galbijjim)
Print RecipeIngredients
- 3 pounds pork baby back ribs
- 1 medium onion cut into big chunks
- 1 large potato cut into big chunks
- 2 scallions cut into big chunks
- 6 to 7 garlic cloves roughly chopped
- 1-1/2 inch ginger thinly sliced
Sauce
- 3 tablespoons gochugaru 고추가루, Korean red chili pepper flakes
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons rice wine or mirin
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons gochujang 고추장, Korean red chili pepper paste
- 1 teaspoon doenjang 된장, Korean fermented soybean paste
- 1/2 apple grated
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
Instructions
- Separate the ribs by cutting through the meat between the bones. Rinse the ribs, and let them sit in cold water for about 30 minutes to draw out excess blood. Drain well or pat dry with paper towels.
- Place the ribs in the slow cooker. Mix all the sauce ingredients (except the sesame oil and seeds) in a small bowl. Add to the ribs, and stir well to coat evenly. Drop the vegetables in.
- Turn the slow cooker on high heat. Cover, and cook for about 4 to 5 hours until the ribs reach the desired tenderness (you can cook on low heat if you’ll be out longer, about 6 to 8 hours). Stir in sesame oil and sesame seeds. Skim off excess fat before serving, if desired. Serve with a bowl of rice.
Just made these and oh my goodness, that was amazing. 10/5 stars!!!!! Thank you for sharing this recipe. 🤩
Great to hear that! Thanks for letting me know.
Made this in the instant pot and it was amazing!! I used the manual pressure cook setting for 20-25 min depending how fall off the bone soft you want the meat. I think next time I will hold off putting the potatoes in until after the pressure cooking part and just saute in the sauce so they are not too mushy. Loved it!
If we are using instapot, how long and what setting do you use?
Aloha Hyosun,
I served the ribs tonight. It was a home run. I followed your recipe exactly as written and my family loved it. They said it should be on our dinner menu. I am anxious to try some of other recipes since Korean dishes are a family favorite.
Aloha Mike! I’m glad to hear that. Hope you find many more recipes to try.
Can’t wait to try this next Saturday. My kids are home for new year’sand it’s my hahng gaap, so we wanted to do a pork dish – sorry I’m third generation and don’t speak korean 🙁
Love your recipes ( galbi jjim was very well-received )
Thank-you!
I love your recipes! Of course I love Korean Dramas!
Thank you! I love Korean dramas too!
Hi, Hyosun!
What size slow cooker did you use for this recipe?
Hi Olivia! My slow cooker is 6 quarts.
Thanks for the recipe! What if I want to make it in the Instant Pot?
Sorry about the late response! I’d grate onion, garlic and ginger for them to work faster to flavor. Grated onion will give more liquid for pressure cooking as well. I won’t change anything else. Please let me know how it turns out. Enjoy!
Made this yesterday & I want to thank you so much! It was fantastic! Tonight I’m going to make your Pressure Cooker Dak Bokkeumtang! Appreciate your recipes ❤️
Awesome!Very happy to hear that. Hope you also enjoyed Dak Bokkeumtang.
Is doenjang the same as miso?
No it’s not. Doenjang has much more pungent flavor from the different fermentation process. However, you can use miso in this recipe if that’s all you have.
Hi Hyosun, I tried to print this using the Print button but there was some error in the instructions. There were something like codes. Just so you know!
hi Hyosun
came across to your blog for slow cook recipes. can’t wait to make them all. I got a question about this recipes. so it doesn’t look like there will be any liquid excepted that 3 tablespoon of soy sauce. why that at the end of the picture (the finish one) that has some kinda of juice/liquid in the pot? the reason I asked this question is that I tried to make the slow cook pork belly from your recipes. anything other than the part that were soak in the 1/2 cup of water was dried out. I’m wondering if this will happen to the pork rib as well. I’m still testing my slow cooker with your suggested setting.
Hi Jessica – The vegetables and meat in the recipe will release a lot of liquid in addition to the sauce. This is an entirely different type of dish from the pork belly. Enjoy!
Have you been able to come up with a stove-top to oven recipe?
I have been dying to braise some country-style pork ribs with a good, spicy Korean seasoning.
Thanks!!
Can I use pork belly or pork shoulder for this recipe?
Of course! I do that sometimes too. Enjoy!
Do i use the same amount of pork belly (3 pounds ribs = 3 pounds pork belly) or should I double the ingredients for the sauce if i am using 3 pounds or more of the pork belly (no bones).
Hello! What size slow cooker is best for this recipe? I just purchased a 6-quart cooker and wondering if this recipe will work with it.
Thank you!
Bora – Congrats on being a slow cooker owner! You won’t regret buying it. Yes it will. Enjoy!
Thank you so much! I can’t wait to try out this recipe. 🙂
Enjoy!
I was wondering if I can use some well fermented kimchi in place of the potatoes and carrots. If so, do I need to adjust other ingredients (seasonings) accordingly? Thank you!
i am wondering if you are familiar with the instant pot (it is a pressure cooker), and if so, do you know what changes i would make to create this dish in a instant pot?
hmm I am sorry I don’t have a pressure cooker. But, I would think the pressure cooker doesn’t require a lot of liquid as the slow cooker, so this recipe may work in the pressure cooker. Have you cooked any other meat in your pressure cooker? I am sure you can use the same concept and just use the seasoning in this recipe. Let me know if you try it.
This is the perfect amount of spice =] thanks for the recipe! So good in winter over some hot rice.
I made this today, my first time ever using a slow cooker! And it was a success! Thanks to your easy step by step instructions.
I cooked it low for 6 hours. The meat was tender, juicy and tasty! My husband also loved it!
I’m so excited to try your recipe. awesome.
Hi are there any traditional korean soups that can be made in a slow cooker? Please make some more slow cooker recipes!! <3
I will think about soup options. More slow cooker recipes are coming. Stay tuned!
This was excellent! Thanks for the recipe!
I was wondering, since I had to buy large amounts of these spices I’ve never used, if you have some more recipes using them?
Great to hear it turned out well. I guess you’re talking about red chili pepper paste, fermented soybean paste and red chili pepper flakes. These are staple ingredients in Korean cooking. I have numerous recipes on the blog that use them such as marinated meat, stews, braised meat, vegetable side dishes, etc. If you like chicken, there are a couple of slow cooker chicken recipes that use these ingredients. There are also spicy marinated pork or fermented soybean paste marinated pork. Use the search box to find recipes that use certain ingredients and click around to see if you like other recipes that interest you.
the pork ribs look good, was thinking whether I can replaced potatoes with white raddish and carrots.
thanks
No problem. Enjoy!
I love your recipes and I am dying to try this exact recipe but I don’t have a slow cooker. Do I just need to add more liquid if I am cooking it on stove top? I have tried the stove top galbi jjim and would like to try this spicy pork one. Please let me know, thanks!
Yes you need to add much more liquid. Follow the stove top galbijjim recipe and just replace the braising liquid in that recipe with the sauce in this recipe. Hope this helps.
HIya – I’m intending to try this recipe, but just wonder why the gochugaru is listed twice in the sauce recipe? Is it 5 tablespoons then? or is it 3 and then the other 2 do something else? Just want to work this out and then will cook it up.
Thanks
Hi Lorelle – Actually the second one is gochujang, which is a fermented red pepper paste. It’s packed with flavor so serves a quite different purpose. Hope you try it and enjoy!
I don’t have a slow cooker handy, will a regular pot do? Should I add water?
Here’s the recipe for the traditional, stove top version: https://www.koreanbapsang.com/2011/10/galbijjim-korean-braised-beef-short.html
I am so excited to try out your recipes. Thank you for the clear instructions, easy recipes, and wonderful layout and visuals of your website. It is really a joy to navigate and explore, and makes me excited to learn how to cook Korean food!
Thank you, Daniel!
Hello
I’m looking for a BBQ pork ribs recipe.
How about this: https://www.koreanbapsang.com/2011/07/dwaeji-galbikalbi-korean-style-pork.html
If I cut the red chili pepper flakes & paste in half will it bring the spice level to a medium heat without sacrificing the flavor? Some members of my family don’t handle spice well.
You can simply omit the red chili pepper flakes. If you reduce each by half, you may need a little bit of salt or soy sauce to supplement the salt level that’s in the paste. Hope this helps.
Sooo good! The spice level was perfect. I mistakenly added 3 tbs of chili paste, but it worked. I also garnished each plate with a lime and the acidity worked. Thanks again!
I don’t have doenjang. Can I substitute with miso paste or will it change the flavor altogether?
You can use miso – no problem. You can also omit deonjang for this dish. It will be fine. You may need to add a bit of salt instead. Enjoy!
I eventually bought doenjang. This recipe is delicious! I dropped the potato and carrots at the last hour of cooking (I put my slow cooker on high). Thank you for sharing the recipe. This one will be a regular menu in our home.
Awesome! I am so happy to hear this recipe will be on your regular menu. Now use that doenjang for other dishes like doenjang jjigae, doenjang marinated pork, vegetable doenjang muchim, etc. Search doenjang on the blog for the recipes.
Hi Hyosun, yet another winner! My husband devoured it tonight and is a happy man. I did not have any apple on hand but grated some guava instead, it worked nonetheless. I have bookedmarked a few more recipes of yours to try, can’t wait! Next up the fresh bokchoy kimchi!
Thanks so much for sharing, please don’t stop!
That’s great to hear! Guava sounds good. Hope you and your husband enjoy all other dishes you try. Thanks!
Do you add water or stock? I
No that’s not necessary. The ingredients in the recipe generates a lot of liquid while being slow cooked. Enjoy!
Last night, after getting rave reviews from my family, I posted your recipe on my FB wall. It inspired two of my friends and they actually made it today for dinner. You just got two more happy families…. in addition to mine. Thank you for making us look like awesome cooks!
That’s awesome, Maut! I’m thrilled to hear my recipes can help families to be happy! Thank you so much for trying out my recipe and spreading the word. You’re the best!
This looks wonderful. How many will this feed? Looking to do this as the main meal for a dinner meeting.
Safely 4 maybe up to 6, depending on other dishes you serve with and the portion size. Enjoy!